Leverkusen players must control emotions amid bad start — coach

Berlin — Bayer Leverkusen’s worst start to a season, with four defeats in four games across all competitions, should not force them to change their plans, and players must get their emotions under control, says coach Gerardo Seoane.

The Swiss, who led Leverkusen to a third-place finish last season and a spot in the Champions League group stage, has watched his team lose all three of their Bundesliga matches so far, as well as crash out of the German Cup first round to third-tier club Elversberg.

Leverkusen, now in 17th place above bottom club VFL Bochum on goal difference, travel to in-form Mainz 05 who are on seven points, two off leaders Bayern Munich.

For Seoane the main thing will be how his players handle their emotions when they fall behind in a game. That has been the case in all four defeats this season.

“At the moment the emotional situation on the pitch is a deciding factor,” Seoane told reporters. “A main thing point is how we handle the situation if we are a goal down, and we need to improve that.

“We have to have higher frustration tolerance, so that if we get in those situations, we do not drop our energy level.”

It all started badly in the Bundesliga for Leverkusen days after their shock German Cup exit.

A 1-0 defeat by Borussia Dortmund was made even worse by the dismissal with a red card of keeper Lukas Hradecky at the end. That was followed by two consecutive home losses — to Augsburg and Hoffenheim — with Leverkusen having scored just once so far in the league.

Czech striker Patrik Schick has yet to find the target this season and Moussa Diaby looks far from last season’s sensational form while talented teenager Florian Wirtz and forward Karim Bellarabi are still out with long-term injuries.

The departure of Argentinian forward Lucas Alario to Eintracht Frankfurt has further limited their attacking options.

But for Seoane it is important to convince his players that the path the team has followed is the correct one. “In such situations the team needs the coach even more,” he said. “So my task is to project that absolute conviction of our path.

“We have not succeeded in finding this emotional balance. But I am convinced the team will show a completely different face on the weekend, with a lot more energy and power.”

Reuters